August 28 - September 5, 2015 Amarillo, Texas

Aged Geldings

A new family tradition for Vicki Shawver and Intoxikating

For Vicki Shawver of Olney, Illinois, the win with Intoxikating in the August 27 aged gelding class was special for several reasons.

In her debut run in halter, she was shocked when she came out of the 2012 Adequan Select World Championship Show arena with a world champion trophy.

“This is only the second time I’ve ever shown in my life!” she said. “I’m usually behind the scenes working. I looked at the horses and (was) like ‘Oh, my gosh, they’re all so good!’ … It really makes me feel good,” she said.

Although Vicki is fairly new to the show ring, her horse, “Toxi,” has been showing for the majority of his life. He won a world champion yearling gelding title with Dana Wilson at the Built Ford Tough AQHYA World Championship Show in 2007.

Soon after, Toxi joined the Shawver family.

“We got him when he was 2, … he’s 6 now.” Vicki said.

In 2011, Vicki’s husband, Jack, and Toxi won their first Adequan Select World title in aged geldings, which makes two consecutive years that Toxi has finished on top.

“I’ll tell you, we are so blessed with this horse,” Vicki said. “We just love him to death. It was a lot of work, I mean, we worked really hard on him, but it was definitely wonderful. I just can’t tell you how sweet he is.”

As far as getting Toxi to the win, Vicki extends a lot of gratitude to her husband, as well as her trainer, AQHA Professional Horseman Buddy Laney and his girlfriend.

“(We thought) we probably (needed) to go out for the Select and Jack was like, ‘Well, why don’t you do it’,” she said. “And I was like ‘Well, I guess I can’.” It was all history from there.

“(Buddy has) taken us under his wing this year…he’s helped us so much,” she said.

Of course, she credits Toxi for the win, as well.

“It wasn’t me, it was more the horse. He did what he was supposed to do,” she said.

She wanted to thank all of her children and grandchildren at home, as well as her horse shoer, Bobby Ordner.

“My kids are back at home. Rylyn, Irelan and Parker are my grandkids and I think probably they’re watching on the computer… They're feeding for us and doing all the things that need to be done,” she said. “We couldn’t get away without the kids helping us.”

After such a successful first go, Vicki is likely to be back in the show ring again in the future.

“It was nerve-wracking, but I think maybe I’ll start showing a little more,” she said with a laugh.